How does Online Speech Therapy for children stack up against therapy center based Speech Therapy in your specific regions viz: US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Malasia/Singapore, Ireland, Germany, rest of Europe and the Gulf-region? Let’s compare Online Speech Therapy with Offline Therapy at each region.
US
In the United States, Speech therapy is a hit or a miss. In densely populated regions like New Jersey, a therapy centre is fairly accessible, but the cost per session ranges around $100 to $250 for a single session! (https://www.expressable.com/learning-center/tips-and-resources/how-much-does-speech-therapy-cost). The typical time for you to start receiving regular therapy session is around 4 months to even a year which is crucial time for the development of your child. Moreover, one of the issues faced by parents is that their insurance would not provide adequate coverage for their issues. When you require many weekly trips to and from the Speech Therapy centre even the cost of commuting from home to the Speech Therapy center would add up and is not usually covered under any insurance plans whatsoever.
Things are even worse for rural small communities, where the average distance to even a proper health institution is higher. Moreover, states like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have not even expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as of 2024. Because of this, many of these states lack critical healthcare infrastructure which is needed for Speech therapy services.
UK
UK: In the United Kingdom, quality and affordable healthcare is provided by the National Health service (NHS). Unlike the US, healthcare is provided both by public institutions and by private hospitals for people who can afford it or have adequate insurance. Most Speech cases are first seen by GP who then refers the child to the proper hospital. However, mean wait time is around 6 week. See: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/imagelibrary/downloadMedia.asp?MediaDetailsID=216856.
This excruciating wait time, causes huge backlog of cases which results in suboptimal environment for the child.
Read more articles about Speech Therapy in UK.
Australia
Australia: Unlike the UK and the US, the healthcare system is generally robust in Australia. Social and health-workers routinely visit children to assess their issues. One of the usual complaints that lead parents to seek Online Speech therapy for their children is that the parents are unable to secure the aid of Speech therapist who can speak their mother tongue – Malayalam. And yes, if you are wondering, we do provide Online Speech Therapy for Children in Malayalam.
Canada
Canada: Unlike the US, Canadians treat healthcare as their universal right. Most of the their healthcare is covered under medicare. Medical Services like Speech Therapy are covered by several social service programs and the Canada Health Act that take issues like Autism and Speech Delay seriously. There medical services are also well-known for their access to care, but the number of doctors and beds available for the general public are comparatively lower. This is also true for Speech Therapy. Just like Australia, Speech Therapy is hampered by lack of quality professional who can speak the mother tongue of the child. The issue is further exacerbated in Canada because of the use of two official languages: English in most cities and French in Quebec and Manitoba.
New Zealand
New Zealand: Healthcare in New Zealand is comparable to most European Nations with a large chunk all medical services handled directly by the government. Recently New Zealand abolished regional healthcare systems for a more streamlined “Health New Zealand”, much like NHS system in the UK.
The New Zealand government, with the Ministry of Disabled people (Waikaha), has started several initiatives for children with Autism like Autism Parent Education, Autism Behavioural Support Services, Autism Development Coordination Support and Child Development Services.
Here is what we offer in your particular region:
We are working towards increasing more articles on specific regions, so be sure to check out later.
Last Updated on 9 September 2024